In these cases, after the judge proposed and the parties agreed to mediation, an order was issued authorizing the mediator to meet with the parties, separately or together, with or without counsel, to settle the dispute through mediation alone or combined with arbitration. The procedure followed in these cases involved meeting with counsel for all parties to explain the order of reference, establish ground rules about confidentiality, and permit the parties to make a complete statement of their case as they perceived it. These were followed by a series of joint and separate meetings that focused on the parties' vital interests and options for mutually acceptable settlements that accommodated those interests. Provision of legal advice at these meetings is avoided. In two of the five cases, deadlocks on monetary issues were ultimately resolved through arbitration. While there is some risk that comingling the mediator and arbitrator roles may lead to prejudicial impressions that will improperly affect the arbitral decisionmaking process, the greater efficiency of the dual role appears to outweigh the possible risk. 3 notes and 4 references.